The Peoria congregation has come across an interesting way to make cross-cultural communication easier: They set up a screen during worship whereby a speaker will be translated and transcribed in real-time from Spanish to English and English to Spanish.

Imagine a college student sitting at the end of their dorm bed. It’s the end of a brutal week. The days felt like a conveyor belt of essays, endless reading, and assignments forgotten just before the due date. Now it's Friday, and a choice looms: do you attend church tomorrow?​ 

The Illinois Conference Executive Committee has voted to call a Special Constituency Session for March 29. The session will begin at 10:30 a.m. at a location to be announced. Delegates who served at the 2022 Constituency Session will also serve as delegates for this special session.

The Illinois Conference administration proposed relocating the Conference office to a joint meeting of the Illinois Conference Executive and Association Committees (EACOM) on January 27, 2026, where the measure was overwhelmingly approved.

Hundreds of Illinois Conference members and friends gathered on Zoom for 10 Days of Prayer, an annual initiative that unites the global family of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in focused prayer. Hosted by Matthew Lucio (Communications) and Ruben Bullon (Hispanic Ministries), English- and Spanish-speaking believers met each evening from January 7–17 for worship. Pastors, Conference leaders, and educators offered a short devotional each night before attendees joined small gr

People adopt dogs and cats and sometimes other people. In this case, people adopted a church.

Music and community came together in a powerful way on December 6, 2025 as Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church hosted A Hinsdale Hallelujah, a large-scale sacred concert that served as a festive and meaningful opening to the Christmas season for the Hinsdale community.

This is the time of year when we celebrate the birth of the Child who provided a reset for all things. His life makes it possible for all to live fully. And because He arrived amidst such terrible circumstances, we can be amidst terrible circumstances and still find a way through them. Darkness has served at times as the condition from whence light arrives.

November 14–16 marked a milestone for our conference as we held our very first Public High School Retreat at Camp Akita. Nearly 30 public-school and 8th graders from across our conference came together for three days of worship, friendship, and powerful reminders of how God is moving among our youth. What a blessing it was to see the Holy Spirit working so clearly in their lives.

When you get the Holy Spirit, you get Jesus.  Ask, and you shall receive. To get the Holy Spirit, we must ask for it every day, and every day, and every day. That was the emphasis of Pastor Dwight Nelson at the Illinois Conference Prayer Retreat that drew 88 people to Camp Akita on October 3 to 5.

With a radiant smile, Laura Lucio stood on the small stage before a hundred women who had gathered from across Illinois—and even as far as Texas and Tennessee—to worship, connect, and grow together in East Peoria. Appointed as the volunteer Women’s Ministries Coordinator in 2024, one of Laura’s first goals was to plan a statewide retreat. A year later, that dream became reality: The Unseen.

Pentecost 2025 is an initiative generated by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists to support “proclamation events” during 2025. More than 5,200 churches and schools have applied to be a part of the program, including 56 in the Illinois Conference. These events represent anything from community service to health seminars to public evangelism. Here are a few stories of Pentecost 2025 events throughout Illinois (plus one bonus at the end):

Pentecost 2025 is an initiative generated by the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists to support “proclamation events” during 2025. More than 5,200 churches and schools have applied to be a part of the program, including 56 in the Illinois Conference. These events represent anything from community service to health seminars to public evangelism. Here are a few stories of Pentecost 2025 events throughout Illinois (plus one bonus at the end):

Guest speakers and musicians are an important part of the worship life of many churches, especially in districts where several congregations share a pastor. Whether you are inviting a well-known minister or a local singer from the next county over, here are some excellent practices when communicating with a guest presenter (with some feedback from our ILC pastors!).

On September 27, the Chicagoland Convocation wasn’t just a meeting—it was a family reunion. The sound of hundreds of voices singing together filled both the Hinsdale Church sanctuary. With Dr. Rodney Palmer preaching and Gale Jones Murphy leading in song, Convocation proved to be a high Sabbath.

A few men at Epic Suburbs' Men’s Life Group (the "young" grandfathers: Bill Puga, Jack Gabriel, and Joe Ventura) were sharing how they wished their children and grandchild could be blessed to know Jesus. They quickly realized the need to go beyond wishing and, with the Holy Spirit, do something about it.

In a bold and creative expression of faith-driven community engagement, the Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church recently participated in the village’s annual 4th of July parade—not just to celebrate Independence Day, but to connect with neighbors in a meaningful, memorable way.

When the twenty-two Illinois members of a mission trip stepped off the plane, they might have wondered if they had landed in the Garden of Eden. Even by Central America’s lofty standards, Costa Rica is renowned for its beauty—volcanoes, sea turtles, manta rays, dolphins, rainforests, and waterfalls.

Around 200 people gathered at Camp Akita for the Illinois Conference's 2025 Family Camp Meeting, held from July 30 to August 2. This year’s theme was “Communing with Christ Amidst Crisis.”

On the evening of June 29th, the Hinsdale Seventh-day Adventist Church opened its doors for a special community concert titled Piano Concertos with Orchestra — an event that went far beyond music.